Creative mothering is so important in our current era of Macbooks, Ipads and smart technology, but how can we encourage future generations to put down their devices and pick up the ancient traditions of painting, drawing and sketching? Here is an example of how we can become filled with hope and encouragement for the creative mind, and how the artistic process can soothe our souls.
My Creative Mothering Story
My 3 year old grandson was home from Montessori preschool recovering from an ear infection and I spent the day doing what I could to make him feel better. At one point he sat down at the kitchen table at the “crayon station’ that was set up and started coloring. He got totally focused, so I just quietly observed while I was washing dishes at the kitchen sink. He worked for about 20 minutes on staying inside the lines of the illustration in the coloring book. I was so happy that he was feeling good and pursuing his creativity in a very calm and quiet way. When he finished coloring with the crayons he said, “I want to paint, I want to paint, I want to paint!” So I got the paints out, and let him choose the color of construction paper for his painting. He wanted a big brush and a little brush, a foam brush and a bowl of water, so I supplied whatever his heart desired to help him with his creative expression at that precious moment of time. Every few minutes he said he wanted to try a new color. “I want to paint blue!” “I want to try yellow! It’s making green!” “I need new water!” He wasn’t sure how to use the foam brush, so I showed him how to just dip it slightly in the paint, and stamp it multiple times to make a garden of multi shaded flowers. I was glad it was just the two of us at home in a quiet house without anyone saying, Don’t get paint on the table! Don’t make a mess!” Instead of dreading the mess, I just went over every few minutes with a wet paper towel to quickly wipe off his hands and the table with as little interruption as possible in his artistic endeavors. The tv was off and I was in a state of joy watching him express himself on paper. The only sound was the water fountain outside the window, my slow hand washing of dishes, and the sound of my praises when we looked at his finished masterpieces. Those were indeed precious moments of being in the great now.
Try using natural dyes from nature in your next project with your little one. Creating custom designs from organic fabrics is a wonderful way to pass down dyeing techniques to your children.
Want to read more about creative mothering? You might like to read this article on How To Raise A Creative Kid.
-Deborah Henry